Only in one area was Tokugawa Buddhism innovative and successful: the development of a complete liturgical system for funeral services and remembrance of ancestors. For better or for worse, this feature henceforth became central in popular Buddhist piety.

A history of Japanese Buddhism, explaining how the Kamakura reforms (by such extraordinary individuals as Honen, Shinran, Dogen, and Nichiren) led, eventually, to the practices we see in Japan today.